Computer Catatonia Cured

Yesterday was Good Friday and I spent the hours of Noon to 3pm observing the Good Friday silence as far from the computer as possible while my non-Catholic spouse spent those hours in intense dialogue with the optimum online and CA help desks. It turns out that our 10 year old computer was just too primitive to handle all the updates my husband installed. It had the computer equivalent of a severe panic attack and just went into catatonic mode. We are back online now that the various help desk staffers gently talked my husband through a series of deletions all the while murmuring astonished little asides about the antique nature of our equipment. I am simply pleased to have been off-line at home for just three days ... during two of which I still had internet access at the office. I was not looking forward to a 10 day Easter break without the web.

I have done a bit more stitching on the Breast Cancer Ribbon Angel ornament ... I need to fill in 2/3rds of one wing and the entire halo ... and then it is on to the sewing finish portion of the project. This ornament is stitching up a bit more slowly than others since I am using Kreinik blending filament for the wings and halo. The blending filament always slows me down a bit, getting it to lie just so and using the shorter lengths required for smooth stitching. But I am liking the effect, sio it is worth it. I also prepped the cardboard and batting for both the SH Pirate Santa ornament and the Ribbon Angel ornament yesterday. Today, I will choose fabric for the backings of both. I am not getting quite as much stitching done as I had planned ... silly little things like housework and cooking keep getting in the way. I am convinced I would make a very good "spoiled rich girl" complete with housekeeper and cook ... having been normal and servant-less all my life, I would be kind and considerate and always remember to say please and thank you ... oh, well, one can dream! Time for stitching and reading limited only by the hours needed to sleep and attend to my career ... heaven on earth!

I do believe I shall concentrate on The Sweetheart Tree's Holly and Heart Sampler once I have finished the ornament ... again, it is another piece I am stitching rather slowly because of all the symmetrical tracery vines in backstitch ... but it is so beautiful as it comes alive under my hands. And, of course, I am a sucker for all the specialty stitches ... I love variety and I love challenges, so that makes the piece a joy to stitch.

Good News/Bad News

First, the Good News

I managed to stitch a bit more on my April goals today:

-- an hour on the Breast Cancer Robbon Angel ornament: I probably have another three solid hours of stitching to complete this project and another hour to "finish" it

-- another 3/4s of an hour on The Sweetheart Tree's Holly and Heart Sampler during my lunch hour

And now for the Bad News

No sooner do I get back into the rhythm of blogging again, then my husband manages to loss access to the internet on our home computer while downloading an update to our firewall which in turn automatically downloaded the most current version of the Explorer browser [or so he claims] which apparently is not completely compatible with our server, optimum online. He has spent the past two evenings alternately cursing at the computer and disclaiming all responsibility for the problem. What is it about men? They all seem to think that merely possessing a Y chromosome qualifies them to do anything "technical" or "mechanical" ... regardless of background, training or native ability. Women seem to have a better sense of their abilities and of their limitations. In any case, we have called in our own private geek squad [my youngest son] who will try to undo the damage his Dad has done on Saturday afternoon. I hope he succeeds. If not, I will be unable to access the internet until the end of Easter Break on Monday, April 20 since I will be closing the Office of Religious Education at 3pm this afternoon.

In any case, I will continue to stitch and photograph my finishes and WIPs so that when I am finally back on-line, I'll have plenty to post.

Progress on April goals

Before coming into work this morning I was able to work on one of my April goals: stitching the Breast Cancer Ribbon Angel ornament for the Stitching For A Cure Tree. I have completed the two darker shades of pink and am well into completing the ligher shade of pink ... but I do believe I will fill in the wings and halo with a very pale pink blended with a pink Kreinik blending filament even though the chart calls for the wings and halo to be outlined only. Since I used a sage green linen, I really need to fill in the space with a consistent pink colorway.

I also met the April goal of stitching a Christmas ornament: Sue Hillis' Pirate Santa ornament. I hope to assemble it in a day or two, at which time I will post a photograph. With any luck, I will have finished stitching and assembling the Angel as well and will have two photos.

I brought my stitching bag with The Sweetheart Tree's Holly and Hearts Sampler to work and plan to get a bit more done during my lunch hour ... working toward another April goal: 10 hours of stitching on this piece.

The April Giveaway

I have finished the Sue Hillis' YoHoHoHo ... see the photo below ... and would like to give away the gently used chart. As charted, this piece has the words "Yo Ho Ho Ho" stitched above the Santa but I left them out since I am going to finish this piece as one of a series of pillows and the others in the series do not have words stitched into the design. If you wish to enter this drawing, please post a comment below stating why you enjoy stitching pirates or Santas or Sue Hillis designs. Please note that this giveaway is for the chart only as I will use the charm when I finish this as a pillow. But, as you can see from the photo, the design is complete without the charm. I will chose the winner based on which answer appeals to me most. The winner will be chosen on April 15 ... here in the US we need a little joy on Income Tax Day ... but the giveaway is open to international stitchers as well.

I enjoyed stitching this clever little piece ... but then I find that Sue Hillis' designs are always clever ... I've never met the lady but I am willing to bet she has a delightful, if somewhat sly, sense of humor. If you haven't stitched any of her designs, I suggest you check out her website.

I have also started two Christmas ornaments

-- the first is Sue Hillis' companion to the above design, a free chart available from her blog http://blog.suehillisdesigns.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/pirate-chart-blog3.jpg . You can see the photo and get the color code list by going to the blog itself http://blog.suehillisdesigns.net/ and scrolling down to the December posts. Again, this is a fun and relatively quick stitch.

-- I have kitted another ornament for the Stitching for a Cure Tree: the Breast Cancer Ribbon Angel using DMC 221, 223, 224 and some pink Kreinik blending filament stitched on sage 32 ct. linen. With a kid sister and a 1st cousin who have survived breast cancer, this particular charity is dear to my heart.

And, by the way, I found my Cookie Baking Santa chart and will be working that into the rotation next week.

Santa has gone AWOL

Since my March 31st post has 17 photos, I thought I'd simply stick to prose today. Or more accurately, ranting against the fates!

Last week the mood struck me to start some Christmas-y stitching and I chose Sue Hillis' Yo Ho Ho Ho [the Pirate Santa]. Since the picture in the last post, I have done another 2 hours of stitching on this piece and have only the two lighter colors in the boot, the peg leg, the hook hand and the back stitching to do ... probably another 3-4 hours of stitching ... tomorrow is my day off so I anticipate completing it during the day. Since I am so close to a finish, I believe I'll wait till I'm done for another photo. But I am still in a Christmas-y mood and I looked for my Sue Hillis Cookie Baking Santa to kit up ... and I can't find it! It was purchased at the same time as the pirate Santa and I swear I saw it in the same tote last week when I pulled the pirate Santa ... but now it is nowhere to be seen and I am gritting my teeth. I will content myself with either the free SH Pirate Santa ornament or the Prairie Schooler Fireside Santa in the meantime but Sunday I will tear my stitching room apart in a search for the SH Santa. I have stitched every one of these charmed [and charming] Santas since the series began and it annoys me that I can't lay my hands on this one at the moment.

I suppose this is what comes of having too much stash ... though I tend to keep mine fairly well-organized and rarely have a problem laying my hands on a chart ... I shall have to check one more binder ... I don't think I filed it in the Current Rotation binder but who knows what I may have done. This binder is probably misnamed since it holds 25 charts that I intend to stitch this year rather than what I am actually stitching at the moment ... but be that as it may, it is the last place I can think of to look.

Anyway, I managed to stitch for 45 minutes of my lunch hour, advancing my April goal to work more assiduously on the Sweetheart Tree's Holly and Hearts Sampler. I haven't picked up this piece in about two weeks since I have been concentrating on finishishing ornaments. And that is really a shame since this is a very enjoyable piece and so delicately beautiful. In short, it is a joy to see it come to life in one's hands. Once I have finished the rather wide band of tracery [vining and leaves], I'll take another photo.

Finally, photos

It's been awhile ... haven't been blogging due to the pressures of work and some minor health issues ... so I have quite a few concerns to address.

First, the winner of the giveaway that I announced just before I dropped off the web: mainely stitching ... I have posted a comment on her webpage asking for a snail mail address. In order to make up for the delay, I am going to include a small bonus - the chart for the altoids tin topper pictured among the finishes noted below.

Though I haven't been blogging, I have been stitching.

First, a photo of my progress on Workbasket's Rabbit Rondel. The plan was to stitch at least 5 hours on this project in February. Well, I exceeded my goal, actually stitching 15 hours during February and March on this very enjoyable piece.

And, then, a biscornu:

The top is stitched just as charted but the bottom is my own design.

I finished stitching and assembling the Poisson du Avril biscornu. Since the center of the design is so closely stitched I opted to omit the button, simply using a couple of straight stitches to tighten the center. I have also stitched a matching scissor case, using one of the fish motifs ... but need to assemble it. I'll have a picture of that when it is properly finished.

Then, I stitched the top of an Altoids tin sewing case using the Rainbow Row from White Hart Designs. I did, however, change out the colors a wee bit, using up silks and cottons leftover from class projects from CATS 2005 and 2006. I stitched this on another small scrap of 32ct Waterlily linen. I try not to waste anything. I may stitch one of the houses on a strap meant to hold the scissors in place. This, too, "requires some assembly" ... those dreaded words.

And I worked on my monthly [February and March] Christmas ornaments. For these projects, I chose Rosewood Manor's 2008 Reindeer and Imaginating's Cardinal free chart. The reindeer was stitched over two on 25ct cream Laguna, using Belle Soie silks and some pearl like beads for the snowflakes. Since the piece of fabric I used was just barely large enough for the design, I had to get creative with the finishing ... without much empty space around the edges of the stitching, my options were limited ... so this is what I came up with. The Cardinal ornament was finished more conventionally as a pillow ornament with a beaded hanger.

I also stitched up a little snowman ornament from Imaginating ... given the amount of snow we've had in the NYC metropolitan area this winter, it seemed most appropriate. This was also finished up as a small pillow ornament with beaded hanger.

And, to celeberate Spring, another biscornu ... this one is adapted from About Cross Stitch's Daffodil and Tulip Diamond [http://crossstitch.about.com/od/patternsfromyourguide/ig/One---Two-Color-Designs/Floral] To make it suitable for a biscornu, I added mirror images of the tulip motif at the corners and extended the borders to "fill in" the corners. I used more than two colors, though: DMC 221, 223, 368 and Belle Soie buttercup silk. I added some deep yellow beads that were just touched with a blush of pink to the areas where I extended the border [only on the top of the biscornu] and finished the piece with two green glass buttons. I am quite happy with the result.



As to sewing finishes: I finished my two French style heart ornaments, a very simple heart ornament with vines and honeybees, and a small rabbit ornament as well as the two biscornus noted above. Unfortunately the hearts were not done in time for Valentine's Day ... truth be told, I finished one yesterday and two today. But the small rabbit ornament [a free chart from Imaginating] will grace my office in time for Easter.

I couldn't resist a new start: Sue Hillis' YoHoHoHo piratical Santa, stitched on 36ct WaterLily linen in the charted DMC colors.

Also, I received these beautiful trims from Farmhouse Fabrics [my favorite source for interesting trim and buttons].



Finally, this is my progress to date on The SweetHeart Tree's Hearts and Holly Sampler

My April goals:

-- stitching 10 hours on Rabbit Rondel ... possibly more, finishing the piece

-- stitching 10 hours on TW Autumn Faerie

-- stitching 10 hours on the Holly & Hearts Sampler

-- 5 hours devoted to sewing finishes

-- stitch 1 Christmas ornament

--GAST free chart Have you any wool

-- kitting up TWs Woodland Angel stocking for Liam

--stitch the Breast Cancer Ribbon Angel ornament for donation to Breast Cancer Christmas Tree Auction project

A Giveaway

I went to take pictures of my progress and found that the digital camera's batteries needed recharging. So, while I am waiting for the camera to be operational again, I thought I'd post a small giveaway.

The chart, Good for the Gander, is from the Brightneedle Squares series. The subtitle says it is a companion piece for Grey Goose. It is a lovely little 69x69 sampler with a very 19th century look [not Quaker]. Since it was packaged in crystal clear plastic, I stitched it without removing it from the packaging. Thus, the chart is in mint condition. I made some color adjustments since I stitched it in Belle Soie silks rather than the GAST and WDW overdyes called for. In any case, I shall show you a picture of my version just to give you an idea of what Good for the Gander looks like.

Sorry about the wrinkles ... I hadn't pressed it at the time I took the photo and, of course, with my dead batteries I can't take another at the moment. Eventually, I will finish it as a needlebook. Just leave a comment if you want to be considered for this little giveaway.

As to my stitching progress:

• Workbasket's Rabbit Rondel: I have finished the outer ring and the paisley ring just within that. This represents about 15 hours of stitching ... so I have met my goal for February on this piece.
• Poisson du Avril Biscornu: I have stitched the top and bottom, marked the centers of each side and am ready to assemble it ... I had enough of the 32ct Waterlily linen left to stitch one of the fish motifs which I will finish up either as a scissor case [my first choice] or a scissor fob [if the scrap of fabric on which I stitched it doesn't fit my pattern for a scissor case].
• The Sweetheart Tree's Holly and Hearts Sampler: This is the next project to tackle ... maybe by tonight I'll have made enough progress on it to warrant a photo.

Workbasket's Rabbit Rondel and other pieces

I am really enjoying working on this piece and have completed approximately three/fifths of the outer ring. The colors of the Caron Wildflowers Periwinkle complement the Silkweaver Starburst overdyed linen so well that the piece is a treat to the senses. I am, of course, comfirmed in my love of Caron fibers. The Wildflowers [an overdyed cotton floss] lays so smoothly and just feels so silky that I find myself lightly stroking the finished stitching. I have a Secret Sister to thank for this chart and the Caron floss to stitch it ... and, though I have withdrawn from the 123stitch Secret Sister Exchange, I shall remember my 2008 participation with great fondness.

At lunchtime today, I did a bit more work on the Poisson du Avril biscornu ... yes, yes, I know I stated in my last post that I would be stitching on the Holly and Hearts Sampler during lunch hours ... but I am just going with the flow while I recover my stitching mojo ... I had both pieces in my stitching bag ... and the biscornu just called to me ... probably because I am much closer to finishing it.

In any case, I should be ready to take some photos in a day or two ... this blog could certainly use a few visuals ... it has been over a month and a half since I have posted photos of new work.

Recovery

Well, I have stitched for at least an hour each day for the past four days ... I think my problem was that I had gotten so obsessed with meeting goals that I had taken all the fun out of stitching for a while. This is not to say I will abandon goals ... I am, after all, a decidedly A-type person ... but I will moderate my goals to a degree of normalcy and achievability heretofore missing in my program.

I have given myself permission to start new projects at will ... I was getting bored with my regimen. To this end, I have started Workbasket's Rabbit Rondel using a luscious Silkweaver 28 ct Cashel Linen called Starquest that complements the colors in Caron Wildflowers Periwinkle perfectly. I'll still be taking the Sweetheart Tree Holly & Hearts Sampler to work as my lunchtime project and expect to make some progress on that in the course of the week. I should have made enough progress on both projects to make posting some pictures worthwhile late in the week. Just admitting that I need more variety than I have been allowing myself has been energizing and I will take that into consideration.

I am also considering dropping out of the Silkweaver Fabric of the Month Club after a few more months. I think my stash is starting to overwhelm me ... I am feeling as though I am drowning in "stuff". Part of this is the typical Catholic guilt about owning so much property when people are losing their jobs and their homes ... if I cut back my discretionary purchases I can have more to devote to causes worthier than my own selfish pleasure: charities, retirement savings and my children & grandchildren.

So my goals for the remainder of February:

Enjoy my stitching and taking time with it

Put in 5 hours on Workbasket Rabbit Rondel

Put in 5 hours on Sweetheart Tree's Holly & Heart Sampler

Put in 3 hours doing the sewing finish of the 5 or 6 ornaments and biscornus languishing on my sewing table

Posting my Valentine ornament finishes on the Seasonal Ornament blog to which I belong

If I find I have time or inclination for more stitching, well and good ... but if not, oh well!

The Malaise continues

Since I haven't done any stitching in a while I am posting an old photo in celebration of the upcoming Valentine's Day ... at least there is a heart in the design. In any case, the "hands to work" part of the message is one I need to take to heart ... I very much need to get back into my usual stitching routines.

This is so unlike me ... generally I stitch for at least 1 hour after getting up in the morning and before getting ready for work ... usually a bit more because of the just one more stitch syndrome. Then I eat for about 15 minutes of my lunch hour and stitch the remaining 45.

But I have stitched approximately 10 hours for the entire month of January and not at all, at all in February so far ... it's getting so I had to think twice to remember my password for this blog.

But, today, I vow to do at least an hour of stitching ... it's not like I don't have interesting projects on hand ... ones that will give me a great deal of pleasure ... I think I am simply the victim of Inertia ... you know, objects in motion tend to stay in motion and objects at rest tend to stay at rest ... I have been at rest way too long.

On a positive note, I have lost 5 lbs in the last three weeks.